Tanker crashes: Govt to enforce ban on rundown trucks

The Federal Government is set to strictly enforce its ban on importation of trucks older than 10 years to curb frequent road accidents involving fuel tankers.

The government has also mandated the Federal Road Safety Corps to start the enforcement of the maximum load capacity of 45,000 litres of petroleum products by trucks.

These were part of the resolutions reached by the Major Oil Marketers of Nigeria and the National Association of Road Transport Owners at a workshop in Abuja.

A statement on Tuesday by the Corps Public Education Officer at the FRSC, Bisi Kazeem, titled ‘FG takes measures with strategic stakeholders against petroleum tanker crashes’ said the FRSC Corps Marshal, Dr Boboye Oyeyemi, represented the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, at the meeting.

It stated, “Government to consider issuing directives on enforcement of the 10-year policy on importation of trucks, so that any articulated vehicle that is beyond 10 years of age should not be allowed into the country.”

It said the meeting recommended that the SGF should consider securing a presidential directive for urgent intervention in the provision of soft loans for truck renewal using a similar template as applicable to pharmaceutical companies and other sectors of the economy at the peak of COVID-19.

It read, “Members further called for a timeline to be set for the enforcement of the maximum load capacity of 45,000 litres of petroleum products by trucks operating from the tank farms across the country.

“The meeting resolved that enforcement of all safety standards including anti-skid, anti-rollover and anti-spill (safety valves) be prioritised within a given time frame as outlined in the similar communiqué reached in 2018.”

It added that part of the resolutions was that “the FRSC, MOMAN and NARTO are to organise a joint enlightenment campaign for articulated vehicle drivers including production and placement of jingles in different languages on radio and television stations, production of handbills and also convene a press conference within two weeks.”

Clement Isong and Aloga Ogbogo, executive secretaries of MOMAN and NARTO respectively and the corps marshal of the FRSC endorsed the resolutions, the statement said.